Commanders QB Jayden Daniels left the game against the Panthers early due to a rib injury

Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels was forced to leave the game against the Carolina Panthers early Sunday afternoon due to a rib injury.

Daniels left the game in the first quarter after making a few tough shots on his first drive after running with the ball, which led to a field goal for a 10-0 lead after the defense tied the game with a pick 6 had opened. Daniels was seen grabbing his ribs while standing up after a tackle and was in clear pain while working with trainers on the sidelines.

After trying to throw the ball a bit on the sideline, Daniels then went to the locker room. He slammed his helmet hard on the ground as he left the field at Northwest Stadium.

Substitute Marcus Mariota came in to replace him. Commanders said it was questionable whether he would be able to return with a rib injury. Daniels went 2-of-2 for 6 yards through the air, and when he went out of bounds, he had three runs for 50 yards on the ground.

Daniels has dominated this season, his first in the league after his Heisman Trophy season with LSU last fall. The rookie entered Sunday with 1,404 yards and six touchdowns with just two interceptions, leading the Commanders to a 4-2 start. He has thrown for at least 230 yards in every game except his NFL debut and was on a four-game winning streak before last week's 30-23 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. Daniels went 24 of 35 for 269 yards and two touchdowns in that loss.

While Mariota struggled on his first drive – the Commanders had a three-pointer and had to punt immediately – he engineered a five-play, 59-yard touchdown drive on his second drive to extend Washington's lead to 17. Running back Brian Robinson led this drive with four runs, including his 8-yard touchdown that came after Noah Brown drew a pass interference call to put the Commanders in scoring position.

This post will be updated with more information shortly.